Separated
by KH777
Summary: How will Yu and Yoichi fare when they are separated from their friends?


This is a _Seraph of the End_ fan fiction. The reason they don't fight any of the monsters in this is because it's supposed to be too low for them to fit in easily. _**This is by no means intended to be yaoi.**_

Trying to calm his nerves, the small brunette inhaled deeply. In the low ceiling cave-like area they were battling in, a cave-in had separated Yuichiro and Yoichi from the rest of their friends. He couldn't help but be anxious as he knew how dangerous it was, but he was relieved beyond belief that he wasn't stuck here by himself.

Giving a grin, Yu did not seem too fazed by this. "What are you so worried about, Yoichi? I'm sure there's not even that many vamps left around here. We can take them on no problem."

"Can we really know that for sure?" Yoichi frowned, not so certain of this. Once Yu took a glance at him, he frowned.

"Really, Yoichi. There's nothing to be afraid of. Even if some strong vamp shows up, I'll protect you."

"Yu… Thank you." Yoichi smiled. "It might have been better if someone else was here, instead of me…"

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Yu snapped in a scowl. "You're the only one of us who can attack them from far away, that's a huge advantage! So don't go talking like your weak, you're not. If you were weak, you would have been dead by now."

"I'm sorry, you're right." Yoichi frowned. "I just seem to get hurt more than the rest of you."

"Yoichi. Your bow wasn't made for fighting up super close, if a vamp gets past us and hurts you, it's our fault, not yours."

"I suppose." Yoichi spoke, not quite feeling as confident of his abilities as Yu did, but taking his words to heart. "You always seem to know what to say, I appreciate that."

"Erm, well…" Yu's face flushed a bit as he tried to cover up that he had totally given a bit of thought power towards this beforehand. "I can't go around letting you say crap like that. Downplaying yourself doesn't help anyone."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll try not to."

"Good."

As the two of them kept in step with each other, Yoichi spoke again. "Can I ask you a question, Yu?"

"Go ahead, it's not like we have anything better to do. I don't know if I'll have a good answer though." Yu replied.

"…Be honest with me, do you think I'm… overly emotional?"

"What?! Do you mean with your crying?"

Yoichi nodded, so Yu took a moment to collect his words.

"Maybe a little, but that's not a bad thing. All the rest of us do is snap at each other when we're upset. You're too nice to do that, but you still have to let it out. It's just a matter of how. Why are you acting like this anyway? Did someone say something to you?!"

Normally, Yoichi's confidence was at a moderate level, but right now, he seemed to be worse than usual. If someone was bulling Yoichi, he was totally going to punch him in the face. Not in how he punches Kimizuki either, nope, they were getting an unhindered punch. Yoichi didn't deserve to put up with anyone else's crap.

"…Maybe." Yoichi admitted meekly.

"Who?!"

"It really wasn't that bad!" Yoichi insisted, letting out a small, nervous laugh. "Shouldn't we stay focused?" Yoichi mumbled, trying to change the subject.

"Ugh, fine." Yu fumed, taking a breath to control his temper. They did need to focus, just in case they get attacked, which was likely to happen. He made a mental note to make sure to stick closer to Yoichi to prevent him from sustaining anymore attacks on his character.

A bit after they kept moving, Yu's senses heightened as he hovered his hand over his sword. Seeing this, Yoichi swiftly prepared his bow for combat. Soon, a group of three vampires surfaced themselves.

"Oh my, there are only two of you? This'll be easy then." One of them smirked.

"I'll show you easy!" Yu remarked, before he charged towards them. As he took out one of them, Yoichi's arrows flew towards the second one. While Yu was distracted, the third one managed to slip past him.

"Yoichi!"

He twisted around and sprinted the other way to stop him. The archer's eyes widened and he notched another arrow, and tried to aim properly as it slipped away from his fingers. It landed, though it was in the shoulder where it only slowed him down a little. However, it was just enough for Yu to catch up and block the attack just before the assault reached him. He could even feel Yoichi's hitched breath on his neck. _Geez, talk about close._ He the two of them had managed to defeat them, Yu let out a sigh and was about to sheathe his sword. However, Yoichi gasped, with eyes widened and calling his name, so he immediately became alert again as another one assaulted him. He could tell just by his weapon, that this one was far stronger than the other three they had just fought.

The black-clad teen loaded his bow again, but hesitated firing since the two were struggling in close proximity and Yoichi was scared to death that his aim would be off and he would hit Yu by accident. Except that while he hesitated Yu was inching closer and closer to a large ravine.

"There's a ravine behind you!" Yoichi warned him, but he was already scarily close to it. Taking his warning, Yu noticed the fact in a grimace, but kept on a cocky grin anyway. Gaining a burst of confidence, Yoichi decided it was now or never and took a deep breath, hoping desperately that his aim was good enough as he fired. It hit dead on, however, the force from the blow, was causing his best friend to lose his balance. Rushing towards him, Yoichi lunged to latch onto him and yank him back onto stable ground. All his hands came in contact with was air as Yu lost his fight with gravity.

"YU!" Yoichi cried out, tears falling down his face, as he watched him merge into the darkness. _This is all my fault! If I wouldn't have hesitated-!_ He sniffled, sobbing, as he attempted to gain a handle on his emotions. _I can't even see relatively how deep it is, he might be okay… I need to go look for him, I need to calm down…_ He had to believe that he was okay, or at least alive, or he couldn't even move, couldn't control the internal tempest of emotions swirling inside him. He rubbed his eyes on his sleeve and stood up on shaky legs as he began his search.

….

Slowly consciousness filtered back to the black-haired teen as he groaned and raised a hand to his forehead. Slowly taking in a breath, his mind pieced together what happened. _Okay… Yoichi and I were fighting some vamps and…_ As he remembered the next part he shot upright, despite how dizzy the action made him. _Dang it, he's in no condition for fighting right now! I have to find him-!_ He was used to pushing himself so he swiftly attempted to stand up before falling flat on his face with a small cry of pain. _Oh wonderful, now I can't even walk straight._ He thought bitterly. Using his sword as leverage, he stood up with shaky balance as he limped along, forcing himself forward.

….

Swallowing, even though he had managed to calm some of his emotions, he was certain his eyes were still red and puffy from his initial crying. His eyes were large enough that he was certain anyone who would want to attack him would think he was an easy target because of it. He admitted in his emotional state, he was definitely weaker than he would normally be. But he stubbornly refused to give up. He just hoped that perhaps he could avoid them… Unfortunately, as his senses heightened, he knew that it was impossible to hide. Something was about to attack him. So, he used the metal of his bow to block the attack. But, he hadn't accounted for the enemy to have two swords rather than one, and the other sword slashed into his shoulder. Wincing, he held his ground. At least it was only one vampire, perhaps he could defeat one.

"Why don't you just give up, shrimpy livestock?"

Stubbornly, Yoichi refused to give up, and managed to slip away to allow for some distance as he struggled to load his bow. His shoulder cried out in pain but he ignored it as he shot off several arrows in quick succession. Eventually, he managed to defeat the vamp and once he did, he slumped to the ground, pressing his hand on his wounded shoulder with labored breaths. Once the pain died down a bit and he caught his breath, he continued on. _I really hope Yu is okay…_

…..

Limping for a while made Yu realize how much it sucks to not be able to walk right. He would have much rather it been one of his arms, he could still fight with one arm and walk straight. How the heck was he going to fight any vamp that showed up if he can barely stand up without the leverage of his sword or the wall. And he was moving so _darn_ slow, who knows what could be happening to Yoichi right now!?

"Oh thank goodness!"

Whipping his head around, waves of relief crashed over him as he spotted Yoichi, sobbing and taking off towards him. The impact of Yoichi's hug was not that strong, however, with his balance, he fell onto the ground in a sitting position as his hands took part of the fall.

"That's enough Yoichi. There's nothing to cry about anymore." Yu reassured in a smile, returning the gesture and patting him on the back.

"No! This was m-my fault!" Yoichi spoke in a sob.

"It wasn't your fau-" He paused when he noticed the sizable wound on his shoulder. "Oh geez, Yoichi! You're wounded."

"Erm, yeah. I had to fight a vampire on the way here…" Yoichi muttered as he detached from Yu and wiped his tears on his sleeve. "D-did I hurt you when I knocked you over?!"

"No. My foot was already way messed up when I fell."

"That's bad… And I-"

"It wasn't your fault. Don't give me that."

"….What are we going to do now? We're both not in good shape…"

"We get the heck out of here." Yu remarked. "C'mon, Yoichi."

"Right." Yoichi nodded in a smile, as he stood upright and Yu placed a hand on his good shoulder for leverage.

…

"Ugh, if we knew where we were going, this would go a lot faster." Yu complained. "Where the heck are they?!"

"I hope we find them soon." Yoichi said. He wasn't sure if they could defeat any more in their condition. The smothering pain coming from his shoulder was becoming unbearable, but he wasn't going to say that, Yu was probably in more pain than he let on too… "Oh, and thank you for saving me earlier, Yu."

"You don't need to thank me. I was… erm… Just doing what I said I would do." Yu's replied, becoming a bit embarrassed. The echoing of footsteps caught the ears of the two teens so Yoichi began to whisper.

"We should hide."

Nodding, Yu gestured to an especially dark corner of the cave, away from the main path. As they scuttled over as fast as they could, Yu spoke softly. "Here, you should tuck yourself in more Yoichi, since my hair is black and yours is brown. It'll be less visible." He was grateful for their black uniforms now that they could easily hide with them in the dark. As the clamor of several pairs of feet reached their ears, the duo stiffened. However…

"Oh!" Yoichi's facial features rose into a smile as he recognized them. Unfortunately, he moved a bit too quickly causing Yu to lost his balance and fall over backwards like an idiot out of the darkness of their hiding place. "I'm sorry!" Yoichi apologized as he rushed over to kneel beside him.

The trio took immediate notice and walked over to them. "Well, this is a relief." Shinoa smiled as she glanced down at Yu from her standing position.

After smiling a little from initial relief, Yu became more embarrassed over falling over like he did. "Not a word." He frowned as he hurriedly sat back up.

"I'm so glad to see you all." Yoichi smiled.

"What happened to you two? You look like you've been through heck." Kimizuki frowned, glancing over from Yoichi's shoulder to Yu's foot that was at a bit of an abnormal angle.

"Ugh, I'll explain later." Yu brushed him off as he used Yoichi for leverage to stand back up again.

"Oh, so you two were hiding over there because you thought we were vamps." Mitsuba mused.

"Yeah, even I'm not dumb enough to think I can take on a vamp when I can't walk." Yu remarked.

"Do you guys know the way out?" Yoichi wondered, wanting to go back as soon as possible.

"Ask Shinoa." Mitsuba scowled over in her direction.

"Don't be so bitter, Mitsu." Shinoa said, regaining her playful speech. "The map we had of this place was damaged in the cave-in."

"Then you had to completely lose it!"

"We couldn't have used it anyway."

Rolling his eyes, Yu scowled. "Great, so we're both lost."

"We probably would have found each other faster if we weren't." Kimizuki added. "No use fretting over it, we're bound to find the exit eventually. Here, use my shoulder Yu; you're going to tire Yoichi out."

"But I-" Yoichi was about to protest that he should help him because it was his fault but thought better of it. "Alright."

Glancing over at him for a moment, Yu carefully made the change between Yoichi's shoulder to Kimizuki's. It wasn't quite as comfortable as Kimizuki was taller than him in regards to Yoichi being shorter, the good height for a crutch. Though, he most definitely wasn't going to be picky.

"Do you need some help, Yoichi? I imagine you must be pretty tired." Shinoa offered. "Since we don't know how long we'll be here, it's better to keep our strength up."

"Oh, you're right. I could use some help then." Yoichi smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem, that's what good team members do." Shinoa smiled back at him, as she supported him by placing one of his arms over her shoulders. She would much rather help him while he can still walk than wait until he was weakened to the point of dragging.

"So, how many vamps did you two kill? Then we can know how many might still be here." Mitsuba questioned as they began walking.

"Five, right Yoichi?" Yu replied, glancing over at Yoichi who nodded in agreement.

"I can see why you two are so beat up then." Shinoa frowned. "I doubt there are any more around, but we should still be cautious."

Yu huffed. "For the record, the first three were a piece of cake, it was the fourth and fifth that were hard."

"It was my fault…" Yoichi muttered.

"It was not." Yu shut him down. "Be quiet, Yoichi."

"What did happen?" Kimizuki questioned. "We have plenty of time."

Sighing Yu decided to begin. "Well, a bit after we separated, we encountered three of them and fought them off pretty easily, like I said. But then a fourth one, much stronger than the others, comes out of nowhere and attacked me."

"And while they were fighting, I was too worried to shoot anything because they were so close to each other." Yoichi frowned. "Then when I finally did manage to fire, it hit, but the force knocked Yu into a ravine…"

"Yoichi, I shouldn't have let the vamp push me that far, it's not your fault. How many times do I need to say that before it sticks in your head?" Yu just about shoved the idea down his throat with his words and his gaze. "Anyway, while I was moving an inch a minute, Yoichi was stuck by himself and got attacked by another one."

"That's how my shoulder got hurt." Yoichi said and resisted the urge to rub his tender shoulder. "I was so worried about Yu that my fighting was pretty bad."

There was a silence for a bit before Shinoa broke it. "Yoichi, people are going to get hurt in the line that we live in. It's just part of it, and it's often not anyone's fault. So, don't beat yourself up over it."

"Yeah, no one's dead, and it's not like you can do anything about it now." Kimizuki agreed.

"You're right, thank you." Yoichi smiled as Shinoa turned to Mitsuba.

"Don't you have anything to add, Mitsu?"

"What? You guys said it all already. There's no use feeling guilty every time someone gets hurt, unless you do something _really_ stupid."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that!?" Yu snapped, turning to scowl at her.

"Wow, I thought it was clear, it's because you do dumb things." Mitsuba retorted bluntly.

"Oh, and you _never_ do anything like that!" Yu scowled as his voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Please don't fight!" Yoichi exclaimed as Yu almost lost his grip on Kimizuki's shoulder. From his outburst, a wave of pain crashed over him and he held his shoulder, wincing and whimpering slightly.

Frowning upon seeing Yoichi, Yu's irritation died down. "Here, let's not waste our energy."

"Fine." Mitsuba sighed, not waiting to agitate Yoichi's condition.

"I'm okay…" Yoichi murmured as he took a few deep breaths to work through the pain. Yu wondered if he should apologize to him, but decided against it, for it's not like banter between them was anything unusual. He made a mental note to try not to temporarily for his sake. Silence reigned between the five teens as they walked.

...

Soon, they had returned and had their injuries looked at. Surprisingly, Yuichiro's leg was not broken, simply badly sprained so he was just given crutches and told not to walk too much. Yoichi's shoulder was properly bandaged and all he needed was some rest. Yoichi seemed to want Yu there with him, so the black-haired teen had opted to take care of him and the others let him in favor that he wouldn't walk around as much.

"Thank you for staying, Yu." Yoichi smiled to him as he sat near where he was lying with his foot propped up.

"You don't need to thank me. It helps me too to mostly stay in one place, instead of walking around everywhere like I would be." Yu replied, in a small smile. Yoichi nervously laughed a little at the thought.

"Yeah, but I feel a lot safer with you here."

"Well you should, Yoichi." Yu grinned, whacking him on the back slightly. "Cause we'll protect each other. That's erm, what friends do."

His face turned a bit crimson when he realized how mushy he was just then. He didn't regret it though, because Yoichi's face lit up.

"You're right, Yu."

"D-don't repeat that okay?" Yu muttered.

"Okay." Yoichi laughed a little again at how he was getting embarrassed. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about though."

Huffing a little, Yu crossed his arms. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? I mean you're pretty tired right?"

"Yeah. You should too." Yoichi said, before he laid down and fell asleep within the minute. After Yoichi had fallen asleep, the exhaustion soon caught up to Yu and he nodded off in the chair he was sitting in.

 _Fin_


End file.
